I Was Lost Without You
by Valkyria00
Summary: Years after the shutdown of the organization, Mercy returns to the reactivation where she is confronted with emotions from the past and the present, welcomed back by old friends but also stumbling upon unexpected revelations. [Mercy76]
1. I Home

**_I / Home_**

She lifted her hair up to tie it into a bun, allowing air to cool down her neck. She ran a much longer way than she usually did, and lost in thought, she totally forgot to tie up her hair from the beginning. She regretted that, her blonde locks were now sticking to her skin and tickling her back so she had to take a break. It annoyed her, it was like it triggered back all the annoyance she wanted to let loose with that run. She kept thinking back to that message she received a week ago, a missed phone call, from a number that she hadn't seen in years. From an old friend, she hoped she would only ever meet again when it was for pleasure, not for work. She leaned against a tree, breathing in an unnatural pace, trying to figure out why the hell her old friend would call for a reactivation of an organization that had ended in a chaos, in blood, in death. The thought of this made her clench her fists, she felt like punching a tree but held herself back because for years she hadn't been trained, and her bones probably couldn't take that blow of anger she had inside her.

"Why?" She muttered, taking out her phone with the message still on the screen. She didn't use her phone much to stay as isolated as possible. "You know where to meet." She read out loud. Huh, Winston still being discreet as ever. It made her mad thinking about how all old faces would come together again, and who knows, how many would have to fall this time. She did not want to lose any more people. And she had to make that clear to everyone who would attend the meeting.

She headed home where she, with an aching heart, opened up the safe that was hidden in her closet. The opening door revealed a white bag, and, some few parts that looked mechanical. She took them out and placed them on her bed. As she wanted to close the safe again, a photograph caught her attention. It was sadness and anger that made her slam that safe door shut, only for the door to jam because something was caught in between.

She looked at the little chain hanging out, and she stared at the dogtag swinging below. She frowned, her lips trembling, to fight back the emotions and the tears that wanted to run down her cheeks. She had done everything in the past years to not be reminded of any of this. Now she was staring down onto the only thing she had found in the ruins, of him, of the one she loved. And lost.

 _Jack Morrison_ was engraved into the silver shining plate. She stepped towards the safe, grabbed the necklace and threw it back into the safe. Then slammed the door shut. She sighed, and with heavy breathing she went back to the stuff on her bed. She unzipped the white bag, revealing the white material that had protected her in so many fights.

Staring down at the Valkyrie suit, she shook her head. "Angel" she whispered, then laughed. "What a joke." An angel wouldn't have let her friends die. She didn't want to see let alone wear that suit anymore, that's why it was locked away. But she couldn't return without it, that was for sure. The mechanical parts were what once was her Caduceus Staff, but it broke while she was trying to save her friend. She would have to ask Winston and Torbjörn about this, they would know. Even if it repairing it would be against her will, because her last memory of using it made her feel like she failed everyone.

The only thing that now was missing was her pistol, the blaster, that she kept next to her bed. You could never know who might hunt down the best doctor around, known in the whole world. Knowing for being able to do the impossible, she sometimes was a wanted woman. Sometimes? All the time. That is why she went out of her flat only in the most unflattering clothes, her hair just messily tied up. With a fake ID, and a different name. When she had to work, she would try to hide her skills to avoid showing that she was _that_ doctor as best as she could.

Her gaze went over to the pack of mail that was already clogging her mail box, because the last letter that was put on top was not like the rest of them. It definitely couldn't be another bill, because it said "Angel" on it. Nothing else. With a shaky handwriting, her nickname was written all across the envelope. She frowned. Who would-? She went toward the mailbox and picked it up, opened it, and pulled out what seemed to be a flight ticket to the States. "The States, huh? I know _where_ to meet?" She shrugged. She didn't know a thing. The letter was definitely connected to the phone message she received, the flight was set for the next day. When she caught the date and time on the ticket, she gasped. She had less than 14 hours to get ready if she wanted to take this offer. Well, did she? She sat down. Thinking about her options: staying in Munich and keep taking care of people and machines that needed her help, or travel across the ocean to meet with her – she hesitated – _family_. She exhaled. She couldn't let them down. No. She stepped across her room and opened up her closet, grabbing everything that she could find. She barely came across anything that she loved wearing, ever since she left Switzerland. She didn't feel like she needed to make herself pretty, nor did she think anyone would notice her anyway. She didn't know she was wrong. She had admirers, people who kept trying to talk to her, get to know her, but she never even realized. If her friends could have seen her, they would be worried. Her glow was gone, her eyes had a dark shade, and she surely wasn't anything like an angel. Her white turned gray, her blonde hair had a dusty shade.

Her suitcase, that she had always kept close cause she never thought how long she would stay, was not that big. She didn't own much, and if she needed something, she would just buy it somewhere around. She took off her workout clothes and slipped into some comfortable trousers and a too big sweater, throwing everything else into the case in front of her. The last thing she packed was the white bag including her Valkyrie suit and the broken staff. As well as her pistol, making sure it wasn't loaded. Strongly tearing her emotions, she moved towards the safe and with the photo and necklace hidden under the palm of her hand, avoiding to just take a glimpse of it, she threw it into the suitcase as well.

Everything packed, she turned to her bed, thinking about going to sleep. Just killing time to get it over with. After all, she hadn't slept much due to work, and she actually felt really, really tired.

* * *

The cab driver opened up the door and offered her a hand to get out of the car. She was surprised, and she certainly wasn't used to this gentleness. She took the hand and lifted herself out of car, then watched the driver dance around the car to get her suitcase out of the trunk. "There you go, miss, and have a nice flight." He said, showing her an honest smile and winking, he closed the door. "Danke", left her lips, slightly blushing that someone random would smile and wink at her. She wasn't used to the open kindness of people on the streets, since she avoided most of the social contact as best as she could. Grabbing her suitcase, she made her way into the airport, with tickets in hand. She didn't want to waste a lot of time, she went straight to the check in. It was three hours before she left into a possibly new part of her life, which made her half worried and half happy. The people, everyone she wanted to see again. On the other hand, she knew exactly why she was going. And what was going to happen.

Smiling lightly, she handed her tickets to the woman behind the desk. She didn't smile, she just checked the ID and compared the angels pale face with the happy one on the photograph. "Your suitcase on here please." The woman ordered and pointed at the space between the desks. The scale to check the weight of her suitcase – which couldn't be very heavy. Besides the staff and her suit, there was nothing in there that could probably weigh a lot.

"Mhm." The woman remarked. "That's some light traveling to the States... for a woman." Then she chuckled. She seemed to lighten up. Mercy smiled back. "You don't see that much around here, you know. Was not meant to be negative. Excuse me."

Mercy always seemed to have that effect on people. Bad mood, grumpy faces – she turned everything around. Even though not feeling perfectly well herself, she still managed to shine. If not from her physical appearance, it must have been her aura.

"It's totally fine. I just..." Mercy answered, trying to find the right words. "I just don't have a lot to travel with." She smiled and took back her ID and the checked tickets.

"Have a wonderful flight overseas, Miss Geizler." The woman behind the desk lifted up the suitcase and put it on the baggage belt that took it somewhere to be transported.

"Thank you", she answered and turned over to the gates. She would just go through the security check and spent the rest of the time waiting for the flight to board. She was used to spending time waiting. She was trained for it. If sometimes she couldn't be head first into the fight with her comrades, she waited and observed from behind. If it was too dangerous for her, she would listen to the commands and stay out of sight. If that meant waiting and have time passing, she would do it. Only then to patch up the wounds and scratches, or save people's lives however it was necessary.

Coming up the to queue for the security checks, she suddenly got nervous. She was seriously heading back to all those people. And probably new people, since they could always use new geniuses and fighters around.

Sighing, she found herself lost in thought and totally missed her cue. There was nobody left in front of her, and the security was trying to get her attention.

"I am sorry," she mumbled. "I was in thoughts."

The omnic working at the security line held his metal detector arm all around her body, but nothing was to be found. In the corner of her sight she then suddenly caught the woman she was checking in to earlier pointing a finger at her, with a security man nodding next to her. Then it hit her. _Her pistol_. Shit. She started to panic a little, how could she be so stupid? Putting a pistol into a suitcase? Hasn't she ever learned -

Suddenly she was grabbed by a strong pair of hands and pulled out of the line. Roughly, she was pushed into a side room and she only heard a door shut. Then, suddenly, her pistol was smashed on the table in front of her.

"You are under arrest, madam." The man who dragged her said with a steady voice, making her flinch.

She cleared her throat, "I am sorry officer, I totally forgot about it."

"Forgot about it?!"

"I know how I should have handled this but..." The two security men seemed confused. "It's been a while since I had to travel with all of this."

"You are having a weapon in your suitcase, madam. That is against the law and definitely nothing to be handled differently." One man said and made her sit down on the chair at the table. Roughly, he pushed her down on the wood, then holding her shoulder to ensure she wouldn't run. Why would she? She has passed these safety checks hundreds of times, so did everyone else, and they always knew they had their special safety rules about their weapons. But she totally forgot.

"Were you planning on shooting with it?" The other man asked her, sitting down on the chair on the opposite of the table.

Mercy seemed startled. "Me? No! It is not even loaded, I do not even have ammunition with me!"

Realizing she didn't make any of this better with the things she said, she quickly added "I am a doctor, I have this to defend myself."

She definitely couldn't seem to find the right words to make it any better.

"You might be traveling to the US, but guns are prohibited in this country. No matter if you are a doctor, a lawyer or whatever."

"No, you don't understand, I -" She was interrupted by the other man, who dragged the broken staff and the Valkyrie suit out of her suitcase.

"Mind explaining this stuff? This does not look like you are on a normal vacation trip."

Mercy sighed. "I'm not on vacation. I am -" She felt like having her throat clogged, she didn't use this explanation in years. It felt weird and sent a shiver down her spine. "On duty. Mercy, Angela Ziegler."

The man, who was by now inspecting her pistol, put it back down. "Not loaded, true." He muttered, then caught the surprised expression of his colleague.

If only she had remembered the security issues, she could have had traveled under her anonymous name. But she messed up. And had to reveal herself against her will. Probably giving away the discretion Winston tried to keep up with all his effort. She reached to her pocket, catching the worried sight of the security men. She stopped. "May I?" Waiting for the men to nod slowly, she got her small purse and looked for that white card that she still carried around for an emergency case like this, something that would state her real identity. Worried, she showed it to them, trying to hide the logo on the right edge with her fingertips. The men took it from her though, fully revealing the logo of the organization she was headed back to. Overwatch.

"Miss Ziegler?" The man asked, then stared down on the stuff that they had got from her suitcase. "It is an honor." The other man continued, now smiling. "Overwatch is active again? I haven't heard -"

"It's not." She quickly interrupted. She was embarrassed and just wanted to get this over with. "It is a duty call. But -" She cleared her throat again. "I am truly sorry for the circumstances."

Charming as she could be she smiled at the two men, who seemed to be totally distracted by the Overwatch hero sitting in front of them. Even though the organisation went down and it received a lot of negativity, years after people would talk about their actions and tell stories about its heroes.

"We are sorry for taking your time." One of the men answered, trying to put her things back into her case as tidy as possible. "The gun isn't loaded and we will hand out a permission to you. Just next time, be more careful. This could have ended badly for you, madam." He lifted the suitcase and gave it back to the third security man who had been standing in front of the door the whole time. "We'll make sure it will be on board," he said, then opened the door and moved his hand, gesturing to leave the room.

"Thank you." Mercy smiled and took the paper she was handed. She rushed out of the room, knowing that this had cost her a lot of time. That time, she actually wanted to use to spend like a normal traveling person before her life might change back to the opposite of normal. But she couldn't. Catching the time on the clock that was up next to the departure sign, she gasped. She had ten minutes to get to the gate and catch the flight. If she wouldn't get it, everyone could be worried she wouldn't want to come back. It made her panic a little. Maybe for the better, because with her heart racing and her feet taking faster steps, she managed to rush down the hallway to find Gate 6, the flight to Colorado. She hurried to the staff that was obviously waiting impatiently for the last passenger to arrive.

"I am so sorry." Mercy said out of breath, getting no other response than a hand showing her to hurry through the tube-like hallway leading to the airplane. With the staff hurrying behind her, she suddenly felt very nervous.

A loud beep was echoing through the hallway, then a voice followed. "Ladies and gentlemen, the last passenger found her way to the plane. We can now leave Germany with a slight delay, apologies for the circumstances."

Mercy blushed. She felt sorry for being the reason of people being impatient, only because she was sloppy and didn't pay attention to old formalities. Then, to her surprise, as she wanted to go right to the economy class seats, the flight attendant shook her head and led her the other way. Her ticket was first class. When sitting down in the comfortable small cabin-looking seat, she smiled a little. Winston must have known how a little bit of luxury might be good for her. She had to thank him for this.

With the plane taking off, it flew right above the breaking dawn, orange and red was filling the small windows to the sides of passenger seats. Soon, she would be in another life again. Or maybe, she would be back home.

* * *

Suitcase in her right hand, phone in her left, she followed the description to the place that Winston had sent her just a few minutes ago. The cab dropped her off a few blocks away from where it actually was, keeping up with all the secrecy she was taught in most of her life.  
"Are you sure this is not too heavy for you, Miss?" The driver had asked her while lifting the suitcase out of the trunk. She wasn't sure if he was trying to be sarcastic. It was not heavy at all, she was not even wearing heels like she did usually when going to work. "I am totally fine, thank you." She answered and flashed a small smile into his direction, handing him the money plus probably too much tip for what he must be used to. His eyes were shining, replying to her smile with an even wider grin on his face.

She was walking on the heated up pavement along a street without trees, making the just rising sun burn in her face. Time zones were not her thing, ever. Traveling to operations all over the world made her be used it most of the time, but it had been too long. Jet lag was no excuse for her to be tired though, she had been sleeping through most of the time of the flight.

 _Tall building with gray brick walls, a doctor's office sign._ The latter for disguise, obviously. She was looking around while passing all the buildings in the busy city, the air humid and already warm enough to tell it was going to be a hot summer day. Early in the morning the temperatures were far different than back in Germany.

Gray buildings were literally everywhere. Thanks, Winston. But she did as best as she could, walking back and forth in the street that was being described to her, she kept her eyes focusing on all the signs around. When she found the first sign saying "doctor", she took the small steps up to the door, and rang the bell. After a few seconds passing, the door buzzed and she could push it open. No intercom or anything asking for who she was, she guessed that she must be at the right address.

Just after entering the building with the huge, empty hallway, with her footsteps echoing behind her, she heard someone shout her name.

"Angie!" a too familiar voice shouted, and soon after that arms were around her neck, making her gasp for air. When she finally was let free out of the grasp, she eyed the person in front of her. Pharah. Seeing this beautiful, grown woman stand in front her put the widest smile on Mercys face.

"Fareeha," She started, knowing too well that as a teenager she had hated this name. "my, you've grown so beautiful!" She then stated louder, taking a few steps back to inspect her friend, her younger sister for many years.

"I couldn't believe that we hadn't heard a word from you. I was starting to believe you weren't coming." Pharah seemed to be in her best mood from what Mercy could tell.

"Well, you know, after everything..." She was paused then by a hand on her back, pushing her to move forward.

Pharah knew the past was no good idea to bring up, not around Mercy anyway. So she made her stop before even starting to think about it, leading the way to the back. There was one other big door, not see-through. Pharah held her hand on what seemed to be a scanner, then the door opened. She seemed to notice Mercys frown.

"You know Winston." She remarked, making both of the girls giggle. As soon as she stepped through the door, she felt the weight of a dozen of eyes staring at her.

She gasped. She really wouldn't have known the emotions that would be released in her as soon as she saw all the familiar faces again. Her heart was melting to a warm, fluttering center of her body. She couldn't hold back the grin and the tears of joy as her eyes scanned every single person sitting across the whole room. From her left side, a slight cough caught her attention, and not soon after another pair of arms were around her. Jesse McCree, who was now holding her tightly, exhaled heavily. "It is so good to have you back, Angela." He said, then, taking a few steps back. "You look horrible." He then added, which sent a wave of giggles and laughter through the whole team. Being honest and kind as ever, her friends, her _family,_ was really all that she could have wished for. She was so wrong about having any doubts going back, and she felt that now. How could she possibly stay alone, when she could have all these people around here? People who actually cared about her?

"We definitely need to change that." Another voice she recognized said from across the room. "You know we can't afford to have a messy angel with us." Reinhardt stepped forward to give a hug to the woman half his size.

"Still the old grumpy grandpa, I see." Mercy giggled, making the old man roll his eyes, who then lifted the head of the blonde woman up with his hands under her chin. "It's good to see you smile, Angel."

Goodness, how could she _not_ love these people?

"Aaaaaangie!" A voice screeched from behind her, and with a few audible blinks, a new pair of arms were around her waist.

"Lena." She smiled even more. This little dorky woman was so full of love and energy. Literally. Tracer dug her face under Mercys chin. "I am not letting you go. Not ever again." With another giggle from Mercy, she messed up Tracers hair, knowing exactly how to get rid of her.

"Hey!" Tracer shouted out, then returning the favor. "See how it feels when someone does this to you." She said, then blinking behind Mercy and messing up her hair.

Usually, she would have been mad. But how could she? She hadn't even cared about her hair since years.

"We said no blinking within our facilities, Lena."

Mercy knew that voice too good. With the sound of paws tapping on the floor, she heard the monkey coming closer from another door to the right.

"Angela." He said and sounded very formal, but he just couldn't resist also giving a hug to the doctor.

"You're crushing me, Winston." Angela said against his fur that was pressed against her skin.

"Oh, uhm," Winston let loose. "I am sorry." Taking a few steps back, he eyed the doctor carefully. "Why the delay?"

"Oh you know, I kinda put my gun into my suitcase." She said and shrugged.

People around her laughed and moaned at the same time.

"Really, now?" Winston asked her and looked kind of disappointed.

"I am sorry, Winston. I just, I don't know. I guess I just didn't care. I wasn't even sure if I should come back."

Offering her a place at the big assembly table in the room, McCree shifted the chair back and let her sit down. Everyone else was taking a seat as well. With everyone following into the room, they soon were so many people. The two Shimada brothers also sat down, but not without heartily welcoming their angel back. Same for Mei, Zarya, Zenyatta, Lucio, Symmetra, and of course Torbjörn. Standing a bit further back, she saw Roadhog and Jamie, who wanted to be called Junkrat, standing in a corner. They waved towards her, but were rather doing their silly things than joining the meeting.

"What do you mean, you didn't want to see us anymore?" Lena asked, making everyone nervous by tapping her nails against the wood.

"No, I," Mercy exhaled. "I just was too overwhelmed. I hoped I'd never have to be part of this again. But then, just when I entered the room here, I realized how much you all mean to me."

"Aww, now, you melt my heart." Lucio stated from the back of the table. Mercy smiled faintly.

"I suppose I don't have to tell you in detail why we are back here?" Winston asked.

"No, no, you don't. I've seen the news. And I suppose we are here to save the world?" She tried to make it sound sarcastic, but it made a wrong impression.

"No, we aren't here to save the world. We just don't want _war_ to win."

"Aren't we still illegal?" Pharah stopped playing with the strand of her hair and put the serious face on, facing Winston.

"Technically, yes, we are." He cleared his throat. "But in the middle of war and evil rising, I suppose we couldn't care less?"

Mercy sighed. "People hated us." She looked down, not trying to recall too many details of the past.

McCree now spoke up. "They might have hated us, but do you think they still will when people try to clean up the evil and help citizens? Morrison and Reyes didn't die for nothing. Yes, they had a bad reputation, but it doesn't mean that we all carry it on." He had slammed his fist on the table while talking, fingers clenched. "And we know most of the stories about them were not true, anyways." He muttered, slightly more quiet.

The sound of the the two names send goosebumps all over Mercys body. Overwatch. What was the meaning of all of this? It was shut down for a reason. Maybe it should stay that way -

A voice was ripping her out of her thoughts. Torbjörn, who had noticed her frown, turned to her.

"Doc. All we need from you is a yes."

"From me?" Surprised, she spun her head to Winston and shrugged. "Why from me?"

"Because we're all in if you are. We need you with us. Without you, how should we keep a cool head about anything?" Torbjörn jokingly answered upon her startled expression.

"Well," she started, now slightly trying to think of any reason that would speak against it. Her pretending to think about it was totally unnecessary, she was already here, feeling the warm welcome of anyone she could ask to be around. How could she say no?  
"yes." She answered, then catching a nod from Torbjörn and Winston. "Under one condition." She had the attention from everyone again. "I need this fixed." She stood up, went to her suitcase that she left in the corner of the room, and brought back her broken staff. Putting the pieces on the table in front of her, she carefully eyed the the broken end that would release the nano particles to patch up anyone in need. "I have only been working with direct nano tech and some things I figured out to help people. I totally forgot it broke." She sighed. "What am I to Overwatch without this? Do you think you could fix it?" She turned to Torbjörn and Winston, who possibly knew the most about this technology.

"Just leave that to me." Torbjörn stood on his chair to reach for the broken pieces, to examine them closer and made sure to not leave one spot unseen. "It might take a while though, Doc."

"That is okay, thank you." Mercy now smiled slightly.

"Oh, before I forget." Reinhardt suddenly threw in. "We have new recruits. We should decide, we should train for our operations next week."

"We already have operations?" Lena started tapping on the wood table again.

Winston nodded. "Yes. The earlier we begin to prevent this war, the better. I made a plan I want to talk to you about. But first," he looked at Mercy, "let us decide about the recruits. And you girls should show Angela where she can stay."

Symmetra was moving towards a door on the left, then making a gesture for people to follow her in. Walking through the door was a small girl, pink clothes and brown hair. Followed by a mysterious man wearing a red mask in front of his eyes. She recognized the girl from posters and ads all over the town.

"Hana Song." Mercy said, then catching a wide grin on the girls face.

"It's an honor to me!" She said in a high-pitched voice, then waved to everyone else.

"She has a robot with her that could prove quite useful in fights for us. It is both offensive and, most important to us, defensive. She could help the old man out." McCree was chewing on a cigar and slightly grinning towards Reinhardt.

"And it goes BOOM!" A crazy laughter followed from the corner. Junkrat gestured a giant explosion with his hands.

"Yes, yes it can go boom." Hana ensured, grinning wide.

"Are you sure you want to sign up for this crazy bunch of people?" Mercy liked her already. She was like some fresh breeze of air coming towards her. Youth, playfulness, excitement. Just like she was when she was introduced to Overwatch.

The girl nodded her head hectically, making people worry it might fall off.

Mercy giggled. "Fine. We need to run some fitness tests and, of course, the combat training." She hadn't used any of these terms in years. It felt different.

The girl smiled. "Nothing easier than that."

"So, everyone?" Mercy asked looking around, catching a okay-with-me-look from everyone. Then she turned to the man still standing half in the door frame, and she could already tell that she wouldn't like him. He seemed smug and distracted from everything that was actually going on. "What is your name?" She then asked, but because of the mask she couldn't tell if he actually realized she was talking to him.

"Soldier 76." A deep voice answered from behind the mask, making Mercy frown.

"That is no real name."

"I don't have a real name. That is all you need to know."

"And why would we want you to join us?"

"Cause you need every person with skill that you can get. I'm a solider, consider yourself lucky."

She frowned even more. Yes, she definitely did not like this man. If they were all supposed to take a new person into their family, they needed honesty. But since Winston and Reinhardt insisted of keeping an experienced fighter with them, she agreed to give him a chance.

Unlike Hana, the soldier denied any kind of fitness tests and also would not be convinced to join the combat training. Which was, to Mercys surprise, more fun than she remembered.

"No, no. Lena, you shouldn't stay with us in situations like these." Pharah pointed out, while putting on her suit that would help her fly. "You are a distraction. You annoy everyone around you."  
"Hey! I heard that tone in the last part." Lena pointed out, while loading her guns with fake ammunition. While everyone else was trying to figure out the best composition for the team, Mercy was observing the stranger carefully. He was standing at the entrance to the hall they were training in. It was huge, in the basement of the building. Winston filled it with obstacles for cover as well as practice targets for the shooting. The soldier held a jacket in his hands that had 76 written all over the back in color, but apart from that, he didn't do anything else. He was just standing and she didn't even know if he was staring or not.

"I think," Lucio started, "if anything, I should go with Junkrat, Genji, Zarya and Mei. I can speed boost us all up in front and keep you patched up if needed."

Symmetra nodded. So did Winston. "I will be up front with Tracer, , Symmetra, Zenyatta and Roadhog. So if anything, we can have a teleporter should there be an emergency and we have to pull back."  
"Great idea." Torbjörn said. "So I will be in the back with Mercy, Reinhardt, Hanzo, McCree, Pharah and the Soldier 76. We can make sure everything is protected, and defend ourselves at range as well. And our angel can fly out with Pharah if it gets too much. We need her in one piece."

To Mercys surprise, the soldier didn't object. Being a soldier, she thought he would want to be in the middle of a fight. Instead, he nodded to the agreement about the team compositions from the distance.

Now with everyone busy trying to figure out the perfect plan to move and act should they ever get into a firefight, Mercy was missing her staff to actually practice what she could do best. So taking the chance of training her own combat movement, she grabbed her blaster and loaded it with the fake ammo. Aiming at one of the dummies, she tried to focus on the heart as best as she could. A thud was released from the pistol, and she heard the bullet hit the wall behind the dummy. She had totally forgot how off her aim was. She, thankfully, never had to use the pistol after the fights with Overwatch. She aimed again, only to wince to a voice behind her and sending the shot into the wall again.

"Raise your head up." That voice behind her said, low, then speaking up. "Back straight, arm slightly in an angle, not straight forward. You have to consider recoil." Soldier 76 was walking around her back, watching her move around with the pistol.

"It's not I am doing this for the first time." She claimed. She didn't trust that man, and she had no reason to.

"I believe you, but, your aim sucks." He then added. Did she just hear him laugh?

"Are you making fun of me now? I am pretty sure I -"

"I am not making fun of you. I respect women that fight. But I'd respect it even more if they know how to shoot in the _head_."

"I was told it was the heart."

"Head is safer. Instant." He then made a movement and held his palm up toward her. "May I?" The voice behind the mask asked, and she lowered the pistol. She handed it to him and took a few steps back, then watched him carefully.

"See?" He asked, standing with one leg slightly behind, his back a straight line and arms in a light angle to the left. Then he shot, hitting the dummy directly between the drawn on eyes.

"Nothing easier than that." Mercy remarked and suddenly felt unsure about fighting. How could she possibly remember this if it ever came down to a fight between her and somebody? Sure, she had done this before, she had defended herself plenty of times. But the thought of death that she would have to look in the eye made her worry a lot. Could she even handle it?

"Try it again." The raw, a little metallic sounding voice demanded. She grabbed the pistol from his hands and aimed again. This time, she tried to have the right stance for the perfect shot. Taking her time with it, she then managed to hit the dummys forehead.

"Impressive." Another voice remarked. She turned about to find McCree applauding. "Didn't think you'd still have it in you."

"You better don't fight with me, Jesse." Mercy said jokingly and laughed lightly.

Oh, the sound of her laughter. He had missed it. So much. Watching her understanding the movements of a fight, a woman so strong he couldn't even believe she existed. She kept talking and joking with McCree, while 76 kept observing. Back then, people would always ensure Mercy was okay, she was safe. He thought she could be pretty tough herself these days, even though the glow that he loved about her had vanished. She certainly didn't look like she could turn from that innocent, sweet girl into a fighting Valkyrie in the next second. On that thought, he smiled.

Then they were approached by Pharah. "Okay, gentlemen, I am sorry but I am going to steal this woman from you." She said, grabbing Mercys pistol and unloaded the ammunition. "You look tired and terrible and it's time for some rest. The next weeks will be hard work."  
"Who are you, my mom?" Mercy asked, and then she found herself completely lost in such a heart warming center of people. She chuckled. "I owe you all big time for what you do to me." She caught a wink from Tracer in the corner, then she turned over to Pharah who had already left her battle suit in the locker. She would show her a bedroom with a way too over sized bed, a bathroom that was at least twice as big as her whole flat back in Germany.  
"You should use it all." Pharah said, handing her towels from the closet. Her suitcase was already standing in the corner of the room.

"We all have these rooms?" Mercy asked and Pharah nodded.

"Winston had this building remade soon after Switzerland. He was living here alone after the attack on Gibraltar. Then thought it might be the best thing for all of us."

"I can't believe I ever had the thought of never wanting to see you all again." Mercy sat down on her bed.

"Hey, now." Pharah said, sitting down next to her. "You're here. And you should, for once, just forget about the past." She put her hands around Mercys back and hugged her close. "We need you and we all know how hard it is." Mercy exhaled. Then returned the hug.  
"Thank you."  
When Pharah let loose, she put her hand on Mercys cheek. "You better get your rest. Put your glow back on and we will kick asses next week. Like I always dreamed of."

"Yes, ma'am." Mercy smiled. Color was flushing back into her cheeks. Then Pharah slowly left the room. With that, Mercy thankfully filled the big bathtub with as much hot water as she could. Slowly sinking into the high temperatures, she exhaled. Her thoughts were still torn between the past and present. She loved these people, but couldn't put her mind to rest about the blood and death she might be able to see. It scared her. As if the water would wash away the doubts, she let it soak her skin. She suddenly felt that being all alone again was like haunting dreams and memories were just destined to come back. Se realized how the presence of all the people around her would keep them away. She didn't remember for how long she was in there, but it was the only thing that would keep her sane in that very moment.


	2. II Black

_**II / Black**_

"You think you'll be okay with him?" Lena was looking at Mercy, who had her eyes on the operation plan. It stated her and 76 to be sent to a building where possible hostages were being held, by two unknown armed criminals.

"Why is it only us two?" Mercy asked, remembering the other operation plans had at least three or four of them involved.

"I have no idea. But it seems we all are busy, I guess Winston trusts him. He wouldn't have approved of it if he didn't." Pharah said, now carefully waiting for Mercy's reaction.

"Poor Winston being put in charge for everything." Mercy sighed. After Overwatch was disbanded and lost its commander, there was never even a thought about who would become the next. In the past days, nobody had even just a second to think about it. They all seemed to trust Winston with everything, but he was not a solider and not an expert on the battlefield. He was a scientist, yet he tried to do as best as he could. They had a deployment not far from their new headquarters, where everyone eventually got to test out the team formation. It worked out nicely as they hoped, with having pressure in the front and backup in the back. To everyone's surprise, just a little training had helped them to get their routine back, even though it was years ago that they last really had to do this. Back then they didn't have to talk much, they just did everything by themselves. Their formations always seemed to work smoothly and they mostly had the best outcome without too many casualties. With some more training, they sure could do the same thing again. The new recruits were just harmonizing with the rest and made the work for everyone a lot easier. Who knew that it could be like the old times, even though having a commander was the greatest help. Now they tried to make commands among themselves, without neglecting any ideas or important input.

"We should wait if we hear anything from Genji. They should let us know when the way is clear." Reinhardt said while resting his heavy armor on a stone.

"Don't you think it's too quiet around here?" Pharah took off her helmet and pressed it between her body and upper arm to have two hands to correct her hair.

"That's probably because there is nothing here." Solider 76 said, who was leaning against a wall on the opposite of them.

Pharah turned to him. "Then why would someone request our presence?"

The cowboy grabbed his revolver and held it in the air. "To scare people off."

"Take that gun down, kid." The soldier moved toward him and had his glove pointing to the ground.

"Or else?" McCree asked, pretending to move his gun toward the man with the masked face. Hanzo sighed behind them, Mercy shook her head. "Now, now," she said, forcefully pushing McCree's arm down, then grabbing the loaded revolver from his hand. "I don't think this is funny, Jesse." She remarked as she heard him chuckle under his breath.

" _Enemy contact."_ A voice suddenly crackled through their radio transmitter. Zarya's almost inaudible voice got them all on their feet in a blink of an eye. " _We have bandits over here, they are trying to kill omnics."_ Tracers voice followed, and the sound of what could possibly be gunfire.

The group got up, grabbing their belongings and moved toward the end of a street that lead to the district the others were fighting in. Mercy still held McCree's revolver in her own holster, forcing her to hold her own blaster in her hands. Soldier 76 seemed to notice.

"You should give him his toy back," he said and offered a hand to hold her gun to free her hands.

"He pointed that at you. I'm not in the mood for jokes." Mercy was in her best mood actually, yet she hated bad jokes. Especially if it involved any kind of harm that could be done.

"That kid wasn't going to shoot me. But he might need to shoot out there."

Mercy frowned. Why did he care? And why was she so sure he wouldn't have shot? After all, nobody knew who he was and if they could trust him. She sighed and turned to McCree. Then reached for the revolver and handed it to him.

"Don't test me, Jesse. You don't want to see me angry." She pushed the revolver back into his hands. "My staff is broken and if anyone here gets hurt because of foolishness, I am not going to waste extra effort on that." His face now blank, he definitely knew she was serious. He nodded, then holstered the gun.

They were far behind Hanzo and Reinhardt, so they increased their pace. Pharah had been above them the whole time, trying to keep the sight clear of possible bandits crossing their way. Mercy eventually joined Pharah up in the sky to get an overview of the situation herself. The city was quiet, and there was nothing really strange going on for them to notice. There were no sounds, no gunfire, nothing. As if the radio transmit would have come from a different world. Just as when they had their feet back on the ground and ran along an alleyway, they caught Tracer waving at them, telling them to come closer.

"It's all under control. We found the bandits and spoke to the omnics." She then assured to the rest of the team and led them forward.

"But the gunfire?" Reinhardt asked straight away.

"It was nothing. They shot at us but you bet we can outplay a few bandits, Rein."

"Is anyone hurt?" Mercy was always asking the same first question when returning to the others, both out of habit and also personal concern.

Nobody was hurt, not even any of the robots that were attacked. Mercy stepped closer to the one standing next to Winston.

"What happened?"

"They wanted our supplies. They thought because we are not human we do not need it."

Mercy sighed. "So it is true." The war that they had already fought back then still had its traces to that day. Or it started again. There were still people who couldn't live with the fact that omnics lived among them, they created gangs and organizations that only wanted one thing. War.

But that day, nothing really happened for them to have a serious Overwatch deployment. They could arrest the bandits and help the factory go back to their ordinary work. No use of guns, nothing. Somehow it felt good, somehow it killed the anticipation for most of the heroes who loved the smell of a good gunfight.

* * *

"I still don't know what to think. I can't trust someone whose face I don't know. He could literally be anybody, friend or foe. We can only assume so much." Her grip around the pen tightened. "Do you trust him to look after me?" She looked around. The girls were all sitting in Mercys room to discuss their own operation plans while the men were preparing the necessities.

"We only know him for a few weeks too, Ang. But he is experienced, he sure wouldn't let any harm get to you." Mei said, was then interrupted by .

"You know, I think that man is not as tough as he looks. Pretty sure he has a soft core for a lovely lady like you." She giggled. Mercy sighed. Oh goodness. She never thought anyone would ever try to pass hints to her about _that_.

She hesitated shortly, then set the pen to the paper and signed it. "I guess sometimes I just have to trust the unknown."

"You know, just think about the lives you could possibly save today. It makes you feel good." Pharah grabbed the paper from her. "So it's set. Seems like we will be some busy ladies."

"Eventually. Soldier 76 still has to sign it." Mercy pointed out. "Maybe he doesn't like me and will decline."

"You really think any man could decline some time alone with you?" Lena teased, blowing a kiss in her direction. Mercy rolled her eyes, and she knew they just wanted the best for her. For her to be happy and glowing. Like most of them already did back with Jack, they always tried to get Mercy to like someone. Teasing as best as they could. But she still couldn't figure out why she didn't like 76. The mysterious and unknown about him seemed to draw her in, making her curious and wanting to find out more about his person. But at the same time, exactly this was what made er totally insecure. Someone wearing a mask had something to hide.

"If he lets any harm come to you, I'll kill him myself. No worries." Pharah offered a hand to Mercy to stand up. She took it and pushed her body up to stand on both of her feet. She shook her head and lightly bumped her fist into Pharah's shoulder.

"Please don't. I came back here hoping not to witness any more death." She smiled, knowing that Pharah was just joking around.

"Are you planning to go without your staff?" Lena remarked and Mercy seemed to have totally forgotten about it. She didn't feel as safe out there only having a few nano canisters and bandages, because they all were not strong enough to do what she was used to. Her eyes fell to the ground.

"I think – _I hope_ we should be fine. If he's a veteran, he better know how to patch himself up if he needs to."

"So, we'll kill the bottle of the red Merlot that is stored in the fridge later, ladies?" squeezed in between Mercy and Pharah.

"Uhmm.. I'm not too sure you will be drinking any of it, Hana, but we sure will." Mei giggled and the girls were all facing .

"What is your problem?" She squeaked, making everyone around her laugh.

"Pretty sure you are too young. No wine for you." Mercy then added, messing around with 's hair.

"You don't have to tell anyone..." She then argued more quietly, obviously disappointed.

"And you better don't argue with me, Hana." Mercy said and stepped away from her. "We'll get you something else."

"Okay, okay..." lowered her hands that she held around Pharah's waist.

"But now," Mercy grabbed her unloaded gun from the shelf. "I guess we all have our work to do."

She opened the door of her room to lead everyone outside. Since all of them had the same way to the armory, why not go together. She locked the door behind her and then followed the girls down a long hallway that eventually turned into a stairway.

"I'll go hand these in to Winston." Pharah held up the sheets of paper all of them signed. "So he knows what we are up to." She smiled and waved towards the others, then rushed the stairway upwards.

All the way down there was barely any light, but a large metal door with a monitor in front of it. Holding her hand in front of it for identification, a quiet robotic voice answered shortly after. "Identification complete. Welcome back, Miss Ziegler."

Then, with a metallic noise, the door in front of them opened.

"See you later, everyone." Mercy smiled and watched them all go into different directions to their belongings. She went along a straight and dark corridor with several doors that lead to all sorts of different Overwatch tech. She was really impressed by the work and passion that Winston had put into the building. He really was serious about this reactivation.

She reached her locker, and was surprised finding a note on it.

"I'm sorry Doc, but I won't be able to fully fix the staff for now. - Torb"

She sighed. So she had to work with what was given to her, again. She opened the locker and grabbed the Valkyrie suit, then turned around to grab the ammunition to load her gun. A process that she despised, she hated fighting and the fact that she might have to shoot someone herself. But if she wanted to help and survive, there was no way around.

There was a bag with a few nano canisters in her locker as well was a few small bottles filled with a liquid that would probably help to cover up wounds. She grabbed it all and holstered the loaded gun, turned around to find her body twitching and releasing a gasp. She totally didn't hear the Solider approach her.

"And you can't knock?" She asked, annoyed that he seemed to have stalked her. How long did he already stand there?

"I just got here. And I was just about to say hello." How could he even see anything in the corridor with that stupid mask? He had his pulse rifle rested on his shoulder, and with his left hand he raised a piece of paper.

"Seems like we got a mission." His voice low and muffled through the mask echoed through the room.

"Yes. I am surprised you signed it." Mercy liked to be smug around people she didn't trust much. Everyone in Overwatch knew this. Of course the soldier knew it too.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, it doesn't seem like it involves big gunfire and fights if they only send us."

"You think that's all I am looking out for? Fighting, shooting and getting my hands dirty?" He moved his arm and lowered the rifle.

"I was told you are a veteran. Isn't that what veterans want?"

"Veterans can also be happy about spending their time with a pretty lady. Without the shooting." He answered to her and immediately regretted it.

Mercy sighed and shut her locker. "You know, if not for the mask I might be able to respond to that. But besides you having white hair, that is all I know about you."

"I prefer if that is all you know about me." He wanted to change the topic as quickly as possible and Mercy seemed to notice.

"Why? Is there a monster hiding underneath?" She giggled, slightly starting to loosen up. She was trying to handle her work with him just as any other professional work, trying to treat him as best as she could.

His hand was going through his ashen blonde hair and he lowered his head. "Much, much worse." He muttered under his breath. Then there was silence that seemed to last at least five minutes before he continued.

He suddenly grabbed his gun and his other hand was showing to the door, trying to lead her the way. "We should get going." He said and she nodded. Following him outside, she started to wonder what could be hiding underneath that mask. Maybe she was just too curious. Maybe she should just let go, just as she had her secrets, it was his. And she should respect that. Just like a professional.

* * *

"You all seem to be really close." He suddenly remarked, pulling Mercy out of her thoughts. They were walking on a pavement alongside a street without any person around by miles.

She hesitated, thinking about what to say without having to recall about the past too much.

"Well, we have spent so many years together. They are my family." She said and lowered her head.

76 knew exactly what happened to her real family, and seeing that it hurt her, he didn't ask any further. Even though Soldier 76 would have asked. But the person who had control didn't.

"Winston has such a big heart for everyone." She sighed. "It's hard to see he is neglecting his scientific researches for us."

"Why is there no other leader?"

"We never had a leader. We had a commander." She inhaled and held her breath for a few seconds before continuing to talk. "Look at everyone in there. They want to help, yes, but they don't want to be responsible for what is happening. Nobody has that confidence and knowledge Jack Morrison had." She looked up to his face, where the sun reflected its light in the mask. "And everybody knows that."

76 kept silent, in awe about how she talked about their commander.

"He just knew how to lead the missions and the fighting. He always had a plan so we would have the upper hand. And you know," Mercy lifted her hands to her chest, "I trusted him with my life. If he said it's safe for me to fly in, I would."

"Seems like he was a very honorable man." 76 mumbled and caught another sigh of Mercy.

"Yes, yes, he was." They kept walking in silence for a few minutes until they seemed to reach the destination.

"I just wish that we can handle on our own. Without anyone getting hurt." She said and smiled in 76's direction. Who then lifted up his rifle.

"Then let's make sure these hostages don't get hurt." He winked at her, but obviously she couldn't see. She nodded lightly and grabbed her blaster. They walked slowly towards the abandoned building, and after Soldier 76 gave her a sign that the entrance is safe, she followed him inside. It was dark, dusty and definitely scary.

Her heart suddenly seemed to race, knowing that this could be more serious that she had thought. She felt the veins on her neck pulsing as she carefully looked around on the floor to find any signs of danger. Only taking small steps forward.

"Nothing over here." 76 whispered into the radio transmitter, not wanting to catch any unwanted attention.

"Not here, either." Mercy whispered back.

"Just be careful." His voice, surprisingly showing a few hints of real concern, made Mercy stop in her place. Then suddenly, her breathing got slower. At first she thought that was because she was so excited, but after a few seconds she barely could breathe and gasped for air. "76 – I – I think something -" She coughed and gasped for air, then felt something hard hit her head. And hitting the ground with her body was all she remembered.

* * *

She couldn't move her hands. Some stinging pain was rubbing against her wrists, which started to burn as soon as she tried to move. Ropes. Her hands were tied together. Trying to slightly open her eyes, she couldn't see a thing. Either she really couldn't see, or it was just too dark in the room – or wherever she was. She heard a groan, which made her body twitch, and she recognized the pitch. 76. Just what was happening? A few moments ago, they just entered the old building that was supposed to hold hostages. Now, she couldn't remember a thing of what has happened as soon as she stepped a foot in. Her head was spinning, aching from the inside. Something else made her want to cough, but she couldn't find the strength to. Her head felt hazy and heavy. Her neck was tickling, thinking is was only her hair, she knew exactly what the consistency running down was. Blood. Something, or someone, hit her head so she would pass out. But who? She tried opening her eyes again, only to find the Soldier tied up sitting on the floor, his gun nowhere near. He kept groaning, struggling to get free. His mask hid everything that would tell her if he was okay, she couldn't read his face and couldn't make out if he actually paid any attention to _her_. Through the throbbing aches on her head, she then heard dull footsteps coming towards them, sharing the pace of her own heartbeat.

"Well, if it isn't the heroes who accepted my invitation. It was almost too easy getting you here." A deep, dark voice said in the distance.

" _YOU_ -" 76 snarled, but was interrupted by a female voice, that Mercy somehow recognized.

" _Tiens, tiens,_ soldier. You shouldn't waste your breath." Her voice sounded cold, it send a shiver down Mercy's spine. She looked up and her eyes met those of a woman with a blue tinted skin. Then she remembered. It was her, Amélie, who had murdered a good friend of theirs. Brainwashed and trained, she turned into _this_. A Widowmaker.

"We've met before, _chérie_." She then said and lifted Mercy's chin up, only to give her a spiteful smile. Her hands were pure ice. Her eyes an evil stare that would bore a hole into your soul. And yes they had met. She was visiting Overwatch years back to assist her husband with work, they exchanged a few words. But nothing more. Her attention moved away from the woman next to her, over to 76 who still struggled to get free.

"Now, now." The dark voice spoke up. "It is good to see you both again." He turned around looking over to Mercy. His skull mask was hiding his face, and she didn't exactly know how they would know each other. "Angela." He then said and stepped closer to her. Out of reflex, she tilted her head backwards, not realizing she was bound in place and it didn't help anything to provide space between the two.

"Leave her out of this, Gabriel." 76's voice interrupted that tension that Mercy felt building while he was taking those steps toward her. Did he just say -

"She is the reason I am this way. I think she should know about this _burden_." He stressed the last word so loudly, it made Mercy twitch again. He hissed it into her direction, trying to make her scared. He succeeded, but she was too overwhelmed with everything altogether that she didn't even know _what_ she was feeling exactly.

"Gabriel?" She asked with that husky voice that came from her throat, absolutely not sounding like the angel she usually did. Her throat was dry, swollen and burning like someone was forcing lava down her mouth. This must have been the Widowmaker's poison. "But I... I thought..."

"You thought you failed?" He hissed, taking another step closer. "Well, you did." He said harshly. "But yet, here I am."

Instead of taking another step, black smoke was forming around his feet, and it seemed he was slowly floating towards her. He reached out, making her head tilt even further. But he wasn't reaching for her, he was reaching for his mask. Only then she noticed his hands were claws, shiny metal pointers, that looked as dangerous as of a predator. He slowly took down the mask, revealing a lifeless face with bloodshot eyes. Mercy's lips released a light gasp as she caught the sight of that. She heard the other woman chuckle.

"Gabriel, I didn't know." Mercy's voice was totally shaky, that the words didn't even sound like she was trying to speak complete sentences. "I didn't know time would influence... _this_..."

They had found his body in the old headquarter ruins on the third day after the explosion. They kept looking and looking for any survivors and bodies. Three days his lifeless body had been laying around before being found by his friends. Mercy tried everything she knew, everything she could within her possibilities to save him. And when the resurrection finally worked, her staff couldn't take the energy. It broke. Literally broke into pieces. It made Mercy sick for days, and nobody ever wanted to talk about it. Nobody had ever heard of Gabriel. He had disappeared the night she supposedly brought him back. She thought she had failed. All this time, it was a _burden_ to _her_.

Three days had been too many for the resurrection to be complete. Now she realized what it meant. His body was brought back, but was also already starting to decay. Shivering, she looked at the figure in front of her. Half dead, half alive. Her old friend, turned into a _creature_.

"I am so -" she started but was interrupted.

"Yeah, you're sorry. You always are. But you know, at least I can continue what I started. _End_ what I wanted to end years back."

He turned his head over to 76, who seemed to have given up his fight with the ropes. Only then Mercy realized that his gun was actually closer to him than she thought. All this time he tried to reach it, and that was the reason he struggled in first place.

"What do you want?" 76 growled into Gabriel's face.

"I am surprised you are asking me that." A faint laugh left the black clothed figure.

"If you want me dead, just get it over with. But leave her out of this." His voice was now full of rage, it was clearly audible.

Mercy was more confused than ever. Did they know each other? They seemed to talk about things that she didn't know of.

"Oh, Jack, if only we could choose the ways we want it to be, huh?" Gabriel's dark voice echoed through the tall room, and Mercy's heart stopped as she heard the name.

Jack? Did he just say Jack? Just what was going on here?

"Just kill me and let her go." The soldier clearly wasn't joking. She never had heard him talk like that before ever since he joined Overwatch.

"Are _you_ begging _me_ to kill you? This should be my lucky day." Gabriel laughed again, it echoed through the walls, to her ears.

She felt so weak suddenly. Blood was still running down her neck, the injury seemed to be worse than she guessed. She kept breathing calmly and tried to focus on what was happening in front of her.

"That would be too easy, wouldn't it?" The black coat moved towards 76, then lifted his chin up. Claws digging deep into his skin that was not covered by the mask, the soldier released a short growl. Then, with the other hand, the sharp claws wrapped around the mask and ripped it off. "How about we talk eye to eye, old friend?" Gabriel's voice wasn't what she remembered at all. The warm, friendly, joking voice. It was all gone. It seemed like everything good about him had been sucked out of his body while he was lying helpless, left to die in the ruins. Only then, Mercy realized what she was looking at. An unmasked Soldier 76. Her eyes, which kept getting covered by heavy eyelids, caught a glimpse of a way too familiar face. Then she cried out. On the inside. Her body was too weak to just release a slight tone from her lips, but it was a gasp, a moaning sound that was audible to the people around her.

It made Gabriel turn around abruptly. "She didn't know?" Gabriel smiled towards 76 whose gaze was ready to rip the person in front of him into pieces.  
"I'm going to _kill_ you!" He shouted out, roaring his voice through the abandoned building.

The other person laughed. "Oh, Jack. You technically already did." He wasn't wrong, they both actually shouldn't be at the places they were now.

"Just let her go." He demanded again. "If you are out for your deadly revenge, have it, just leave her."

"Oh, Jack. Still trying to be the hero, are we?" The claws were back into the flesh of his cheeks. "Yes, yes. Revenge. Thank you, for reminding me of the reason for our lovely meeting today." He laughed. "You know, I figured..."

He threw a look towards the Widowmaker who was still standing next to Mercy, who seemed to take his gaze as a demand to move. She grabbed her gun. Mercy started to feel anxious about everything that was happening around her. Then the person in front of her continued talking.

"I figured killing you would be too easy. Making you the same way I am however, theoretically," he smiled down on the captured soldier. "Sounds like a much better plan. I'm not going to kill you. Not today anyway. I am going to take everything from you, like you took from me. I am going to kill your _heart_." He hissed.

And then something happened that Mercy didn't even manage to follow. She heard a click, and she next thing was her chest starting to burn and ache like a really bad insect sting. She couldn't figure out what it was. More poison? Panicking, she looked around her, adrenaline kicking in, her head flying up and her eyes ripped open. Her gaze went up to the right where the clicking noise came from.

Her head became dull, numb; her vision hazy and completely blurry.

"NO!" A shout hit her left ear, but she was too focused on the barrel of that sniper rifle that was pointing directly at her.

Widowmaker's gun had clicked to turn into a sniper rifle within a fraction of a second. Mercy slowly moved her head but wasn't strong enough anymore to focus. Her strength suddenly faded, the adrenaline kick suddenly turned into pulsing rushing pain into her senses. Like being burned alive, she wanted to scream, but she couldn't. With her last strength, she saw blood running down her stomach, her shirt was soaking. She was shot. Shot in the heart.

Black.


	3. III Revival

_**III / Revival**_

He coughed, his heart beating fast and his lungs gasping for air, his eyes flew open but caught nothing but a stinging white light. His pupils were so sensitive that even the dark room seemed too bright to make out anything. The poison of Widowmaker had different effects on everyone depending on how their body would handle. The last thing he remembered was struggling with a rope, so the first thing he tried was breaking free. But there was no need. The ropes that had tied his hands and feet together were loose, so that he instantly lost balance and his side hit the stone cold floor. Only then to realize something had hit his head so he'd fall unconscious. He wasn't new to this, he had been knocked down many times in his life. Instinctively, his hand brushed over the bump on his head. There was no blood on his hand, so it wouldn't have been too bad. He was feeling dizzy but that was it. Slowly lifting himself up after he felt good enough again, his eyes immediately fell on the pale woman on the ground across of him. He gasped, and out of reflex he sprinted to the body. His memory flashed in front of him, showing him the disgusting image of how she had been shot. "No, fuck, no!" He shouted, his voice vibrating through the walls. "No, Angel, no, no.." His hands lifted her head up, then he held two fingers on her throat. Waiting for any signs of a pulse, he kept readjusting his fingers and then finally took her wrist. Nothing. No heartbeat. "You can't do this to me, Angela..." He carefully loosened the rope that tied her up and lifted the limp body up in his hands, then put her down on the stone floor. He ripped the Valkyrie suit from her body, too impatient to actually care for the procedure that was important for it to function. It was shot through, to his surprise, because it always had survived gunfire. Probably not a shot from a that close distance.

Her white shirt was all crimson red of blood. His fingers dug underneath the fabric that stuck to her skin. He pulled it up to reveal a wound, small, but deadly. He immediately noticed that it was shot through, so there was no need for him to mess even more with her body. He reached into his pocket and activated a biotic field.

The yellow glow filled up her body, but the only thing that he could see happening was the wound starting to close at a very slow pace.

"Come on, please." He said through his teeth. He kept an eye on the wound, kneeling next to the body. But she didn't twitch, she didn't get a heartbeat. Tears were at the verge of his eyes, he couldn't believe this was real. He must still be full of poison and hallucinating.

The yellow glow faded, and all it did was reducing the entrance and exit wounds, but nothing to stabilize her condition. If there even was a way to do that.

 _Her staff_.

He swung to his feet to look for her things, and when he only saw the pistol in the corner, he realized. The staff was still not functioning. He panicked. The staff would be the one and only hope he had to bring her back. Nervously looking around the room, he clenched his hands to fists. He moved to his mask and put it on. _Such a damn coward. God, you are an asshole._ A clicking sound fixated the mask to his face. _She died because you are such a damn coward._ But he couldn't return to the others with his face revealed. Mercy was priority, she always had been.

Grabbing everything he could, he carefully lifted the body into his grip and started making his way out of the building. His head still dizzy and not feeling too well, he knew he might not be able to fight if anything happened. But that was unimportant. If he died too, then at least he got his punishment.

He carried the body all the way back to the headquarters, where he stormed into the assembly room. Everybody was already dead worried about them, since they hadn't heard a thing and they were gone longer than expected. With all faces in the room turning white and filling with shocked expressions. All eyes fell on the body he held in his arms. Slowly, without any words, he laid her down on the table. It was quiet, every sound of talking had faded and it seemed an eternity that all their lungs held their breath. Solider 76 then put the suit next to her, unloaded his gun and put it on the ground.

Then suddenly out of nowhere, Pharah stepped forward pushing the soldier back. " _What did you do?!_ " She screamed out, looking at the solider with a deadly glance that would probably fulfill her promise she made to Mercy.

"What happened, who did -?" Reinhardt began, then his hands were slowly turning Mercy's head over.

"Talon." The soldier breathed out, his head buzzing with pain. "We were attacked." He explained, lying to all of them again. He knew the truth and he knew why she was shot and not him. Then he stormed forward to the body. "Where is her staff? We need to do something!" He shouted, having everyone look at him in confusion.

"It is not repaired yet, I have no idea if -" Torbjörn started to explain but was cut off.

"Get it here!" Pharah said immediately. "We can't lose her."

Torbjörn rushed out of the room to get the staff. 76 had no idea what they were going to do, he had watched her a million times getting people back from the dead and he had experienced it more than once as well. He wasn't sure how to do it, but he definitely could figure out. But he couldn't show. He wasn't Jack, he was Solider 76. And that guy had not seen her do her work once because the staff was broken. He just prayed anyone else would know what to do. As much as he hated himself for the coward he was, because this was about her life and he still kept his identity a priority in this situation. In the meantime, he grabbed another biotic field and put it on the table.

He activated the yellow glow. "It closed the wound, and if it can slow down the decay..." He muttered. He had eyes on him from all directions. Nobody knew what exactly happened, whether the soldier told the truth or not. But they let him slowly put the canister next to the body, because nobody else knew what they should be doing instead. They were no doctors, no scientists. The only one knowing things about bringing dead back to life was the one being dead in front of them.

Torbjörn rushed back with the staff in his hands, it was one part again but apparently still had malfunctions. He activated it but nothing happened as he pointed it to her body.

"This is not how this is supposed to work." Pharah grabbed the staff from his hands. "It is protected so only she can use it." She exhaled heavily.

"Then how are we going to do anything?" Lena bend forward, with tears in her eyes. "I can't lose her..."

"I have one idea and I really hope this works..." Pharah turned to her best friend on the table. She cringed clearly as she grabbed the lifeless hand of her friend and carefully wrapped it around the end of the staff. Holding Mercy's hand in her own around the handle, she lifted the staff up and hesitated.

" _Heroes never die!_ "

Her voice was echoing through the room. Not too soon after, the Valkyrie wings of the suit lighted up and a swarm on nano particles formed a beam as bright as the sun above the lifeless body. It forced everyone to squint or look away. Pharah could barely hold the staff anymore, it was vibrating and releasing a power that was almost unable to control. If this was what Mercy had to endure every time, now she knew why it was so exhausting. The dead body, now fully glowing with a white and yellow color, was still lifeless. The power seemed to fade, and Pharah slowly took the staff down.

Everyone's eyes were glued to the body, waiting for any sign of success. But minutes passed and nothing was happening.

"What if the staff is still broken?" Lena asked, impatiently balancing her body from her left feet to the right and back. "What are we going to do?"

"We just have to wait." Winston, whose face was as sad as anyone had ever seen, took a few steps back. "Maybe we should leave her somewhere else. We are no help like this."

"But usually we all come back just in the second she helps us!" Lena really couldn't take this anymore.

"Lena, please." McCree laid a hand on her shoulder. Then a sob left Lena's lips, which made start to cry as well.

Winston looked over to McCree and the Shimada brothers to help him carry the body over the room next to them. They figured she needed her rest for anything that just happened to take effect. Soldier 76 got up to offer help as well, but he only got shaking heads back at him.

"I think it's better you sit." McCree raised his hand and pointed at the chair in the corner. The soldier rolled his eyes but obviously nobody could see. All he wanted was to know if his angel could make it. Nothing more.

"You saw the light, you saw the suit glow. Something must have happened." Pharah reassured to Lena while holding her in her arms.

"That doesn't mean it was anything good." Lena sobbed again.

Everyone was sitting in the room and barely anyone said a word. There were quiet cries and sobs here and there, but nobody dared to say anything. Their minds were full of worst case scenarios, that they just might have lost their best friend and guardian angel. There was nothing else that Mercy wanted than starting the organization without casualties, and then it hit her of them all.

"Maybe this is a sign." Reinhardt said, shaking his head. "Maybe we shouldn't have come back. And now we pay the price by losing -" His fist slammed the table, not finishing the sentence. He couldn't, he just couldn't get her name from his lips.

"Maybe we all should just get some rest. Get our mind on something else." Symmetra suggested, offering to grab something to eat or drink for anyone who wanted.

"How can you think of anything else right now?" Reinhardt frowned. Just as he wanted to continue his sentence, the door to their right flew open. All eyes were on the figure standing in the door frame.

Her head was dizzy and her chest hurt more than anything. But due to the adrenaline rush that was caused by the revival, she was on her feet faster than she ever imagined. She had never experienced this herself before but was quite surprised about how it actually worked. Faster than her thoughts could actually follow, her hand pushed down the door handle and swung the door open. She had relieved and overjoyed eyes on her, she heard people calling her name, hands trying to embrace her - but she didn't care. Her head was like she was walking above clouds and every person around was miles away. The only thing she had in her mind was an unmasked Soldier 76. The face, the features, the eyes. All of someone who she thought dead, maybe it was just the adrenaline and the fact that she died a few moments ago, but the images wouldn't get out of her mind. Like a puppet on a string her feet led her forward. It was like she was in some sort of trance and it made people worry. They thought something had happened to her mind while she was dead. She pushed everyone out of her embrace and let her feet carry her toward the chair in the corner, where the Soldier 76 was resting his head against the wall.

She walked closer and closer, until her hand reached for the mask on his face.

"Mercy, what are you -" The soldier tried grabbing her wrist but she was determined. Her fingernails dug into the material and ripped it from his face. She stared into two deep ocean blue eyes she knew like her own self. Gasping and inhaling was a sound that filled the room. Mercy let out a cry. Her face filled with pain and tears made her vision blurry. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do, but just like the puppet on a string, her hand clenched to a fist and hit the man in front of her in the shoulder. Again and again. Nobody was saying anything, the soldier was sitting still. He watched the broken woman in front of him repeatedly punch his shoulder, while her face filled with tears and wrinkles that formed from pain. She hit him with one last blow before she collapsed through the clouds on her knees, with a sob leaving her chest that quickly turned into the sound of crying.

Totally unable to figure out what he was supposed to do, the soldier tried to reach for the angel on the ground, but was stopped by a shrieking voice.

"Do not even dare to touch me!" Mercy cried, her now bloodshot eyes meeting his. "Why, Jack, _why_?" She shook off the hand that was reaching out for her and struggled to get back on her feet. She was still crying, but now looked more angry instead of actually sad.

"I _buried_ you, Jack. I mourned you for _years_!"

"I know, and I am sorry -"

" _Damn it_!" She cried and her fist slammed into his shoulder again.

Jack Morrison was sitting in front of Overwatch. In front of his family.

He certainly never wanted them all to find out, but if they did, not like this. He didn't know what he had thought. To be fair, he totally forgot that she had actually seen him without his mask after Gabriel took it off.

"You better have a _damn good reason_." Mercy wiped her tears off with her sleeve of the still dried blood soaked t-shirt.

Jack hesitated. How could he ever describe it to them so it made sense? He probably couldn't. Nobody would understand. But he owed them the truth after everything. As he felt the weight of eyes on him, he started speaking. "Overwatch died. And so did I."

"You call that a reason?" Mercy was furious, but was trying to hide it as best as she could. She didn't want to lose her temper in front of everybody, and hoped that punching Jack could be justified.

"After everything that happened, I just wanted to protect all of you. People hated me. They brought Overwatch to the end. The explosion was the finale of it. And I thought it better be the end of me, too."

"So you disguised yourself, instead of just telling us?"

"How should I tell you? I never wanted anyone to know..."

" _Why_?" Mercy never took her death stare from his face. It frightened him, as he had never seen her this way before. Not ever in all these years.

"I just wanted the best for you. I wanted to take care of the people who brought Overwatch down and I looked out for all of you. I made sure you were safe..." He continued. Everybody was carefully listening, but he sure knew that not everyone would understand his motifs.

"And you couldn't let _me_ know that you were still there?"

"The risk of people finding out it was me was too big. It would have just endangered you. After all, everything that happened was my burden..."

Mercy shook her head in disbelief. "We are your _family_ , Jack... How could you not -?" She didn't finish her sentence because she didn't know what she should say.

"Look at these kids." Jack said and his eyes went around the room. "They don't need that kind of burden."

"These _kids_ , Jack," her gaze never left his face, "they know exactly what they signed up for. Your burden would have been ours."

"Exactly. And that is wrong."

"Lying to everyone here was not wrong?"

"I – I -" He started but couldn't find anything more to argue.

"We – _I_ thought I lost you forever, Jack. And here you are, all this time, you knew exactly who we were."

"I know. And it wasn't easy for me either."

"Then why did you agree to join again?" Mercy felt a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off. Pharah had tried to step in, seeing that she was exhausted but the fury she felt kept her on her feet. Everyone else in the room was looking at the both of them with concern.

"I was asked and I said no. But I figured it might be my best chance to find vengeance and protect all of you."

"This is all about _vengeance_?" No matter what he said, it seemed to make Mercy more angry.

"No, not entirely -"

"I don't get it." She interrupted him.

"Then let me explain this at a better time..."

"A better time? You think there is a better time?" Mercy crossed her arms in front of her chest, but still not taking her eyes of the man. Her forehead started to hurt from the frowning.

"You know what, I don't want to hear it." Tears were running down her cheeks again. She inhaled shortly, then her gaze went over to the other people in the room. They were all sitting quietly, observing the two people who came back from the dead, arguing. Shaking her head, Mercy stomped out of the room. Jack was on his feet as fast as he could. "Angel, _pleas_ _e_!" He shouted after her but she didn't turn around.

As not expected differently, nobody else was filled with joy about the revelation. People were happy about the news, sure, but the lies were too much to handle. Maybe they needed time, maybe they just needed to ready themselves for forgiveness. Jack didn't know which of those things. He felt as bad as he had when he first stepped into this building, hoping that he might get through with the disguise if he was careful enough. He was, but how could he expect an old friend to seek revenge? He stared at the people across the room, who had started talking and ignoring him as of what he could tell. He looked down at the mask that fell to the ground, then gave it a kick with a roar that left his chest. " _Damn it_!" He shouted through his teeth.

"You know, you should give her time." McCree remarked, now taking a few steps closer to his former commander.

He was right. What did he expect as soon as someone would find out? Hands around his neck, kisses on his cheeks, joyful faces that he didn't actually die?

"I am figuring out how to tell you all that I am sorry." Jack walked closer to the table and took the time to look everyone in the eyes. "I am not sure if anything can ever make it up to how I lied to all of you. But I had my intentions."

"We might comprehend those intentions, Morrison, but just the point where you faked your death is what nobody can understand. If I may speak for everyone in this room." Torbjörn looked at the tall figure standing aside him. He knew him well.

"You are just a selfish idiot for all of that, and I hope you know that." Reinhardt spoke.

"I know that very well. I can't hate myself more for the ways I hurt Angela. I watched her. I looked after her."

"But you never had the courage to tell her."

Jack shook his head.

"She loves you, damn it, Jack."

Jack exhaled. "I know. And it hurt to see her."

"So your ego was more important than a broken heart?" Lena raised her head, her eyes still small and red from crying. "More important than all of us?"

Jack was hurt from her gaze that hit him, it was pain and confusion in her eyes. He looked away from her and tried to breathe easy. He felt like kicking and punching the walls to release tension that he felt from everything that had happened. What could he possibly answer to that? Yes was the answer. Because it is what happened, he only cared about himself and revenge. He had never considered it as much before as he did in that moment, he never could imagine how difficult it must be to understand his point of view.

"Yes." He just answered simply, without moving any muscle of his body. Upon hearing his answer, Lena looked away and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I felt responsible for everything that happened at the headquarters. I just wanted it to end. I hoped my death would make people stop hating Overwatch."

"Even if that is so, you didn't think for one second about everyone who followed and loved you, Jack. I am sure we could have found a solution -" Pharah was standing behind him, also with her arms crossed. But she was cut off by Jack who suddenly turned around to face her.

"You couldn't have done a damn thing. Yes, I have been selfish and yes I didn't think right. But all I wanted was for everyone to be safe of what was happening. I didn't want all of you to be the center of that war any longer. They got what they wanted, a dead commander. And I got what I wanted, my revenge." His teeth clenched as he spoke the last sentence. "But always above that was that I wanted all of you to be safe. I looked after you, long before I was convinced to join as 76."

There was still silence in the room, because nobody just knew how to handle the situation correctly. Jack was just trying to justify his actions over and over, but at that moment everything was too overwhelming.

"You know, I think we have enough time to get this all cleared up." Reinhardt got up from his chair and walked toward Jack. He laid a hand on his shoulder. "But for now I think you should make it up to someone." His eyes quickly went over to the door where Mercy just stomped out moments before. "But give her time. It hit her the hardest." He took his hand off the shoulder and walked out of the room himself.

* * *

She had hoped that hot water embracing her body would take away the numbness that filled her body from time to time – a side effect? She didn't know. A shower was what she hoped would wash off the dirt and blood, not only on her outside but also the thoughts and pictures that kept flashing in front of her eyes. She kicked the blood stained clothes into the corner of the small bathroom, then set she shower to the hottest temperature and just let the drops follow every line of her body. She shivered when it made the first contact, but after a few seconds she could feel the hot water leaving burning trails on her skin. Like acid they washed away the dirt and like medicine they loosened up her tensed muscles. Her headache seemed to lessen as soon as the heat spread on her head and continued its way down her spine. She could have stayed there forever, just letting the water wash away everything that didn't belong to her. But after a while the heat got too much for her, and after a quickly cleaning routine she stepped out of the shower.

She stared into the reflection that appeared in the mirror in front of her. The water had appeared to be like a shield around her, as soon as it stopped flowing on her skin, it seemed all dirt and thoughts came back. Why did this all have to happen? Maybe if she just had become an ordinary doctor she could have had a happy and ordinary life. She spent the past years mourning a man who didn't even die, she wasted her breath and her tears to something that did not even happen. And her best friend? Gabriel? What did _she_ do to _him –_ a sob escaped her mouth, her eyes were filling with tears again. Why? Why? _Why?_ She died today. By the hands of people who once were the nicest friends. They had turned into an enemy. She thought she had lost her beloved, who had lied to her for years instead.

With her hands clenched to fists, she was staring at the bloodshot eyes looking back at her. " _Why?_ " She cried out and her fist hit the mirror at the point where she saw her own face. Her hand was shaking and covered with blood and cuts. Not feeling any pain and being numb of any emotion aside from guilt and confusion, her body collapsed on the bathroom floor. She was shaking, breathing heavily, and with quivering lips the sobs were not stopping.

There was a thud against the wall, and the sound of glass shattering. With her condition, he got worried what was happening in her room. He didn't care about anything that had happened that day, he could not leave without knowing she was okay. Even if he was told she needed her time, this was definitely alarming him. The door was locked, but he was strong enough to kick it open. His eyes went around the room, it was dark and calm, as if nobody had been there the whole day. Then he saw light coming from below the door that lead to the bathroom, and quiet sounds of crying. He immediately turned his head toward the door, and took slow steps forward. Lightly putting his hand on the handle to not scare Mercy, he pushed it down and slowly opened the door. What first revealed to his eyesight was she shattered mirror and blood all around it. He gasped, making him to open the door in a quick swing. What he saw broke his heart. He found a small blonde woman rolled up and naked on the cold bathroom floor. She was all wet, her hair soaking of water. Instinctively, he approached the quivering body and tried to turn her around. Her eyes were red and her gaze met his eyes, but she looked through him. She kept sobbing, even though his hands were holding her face. Slowly, he lifted her body up and held her in his arms. Her head buried in his chest, he felt the racing heartbeat. Her body was shaking, making it difficult for his to sit still. He didn't say a word, he just held her close. His right hand was trying to pick out the strands of hair from her face that were covering her eyes.

He couldn't tell for how long he was just sitting there, holding her, while she was crying her heart out. He never said a word, knowing exactly that it was all he could do. And knowing that crying was everything he could let her do after everything.

Eventually, he picked up a towel and started drying her body as good as he could. Wrapping her up in the towel, guessing she might be shaking because of the cold floor, he tried to calm her down. He rested his chin on her hair, pressing her as close as he could. She didn't object, and her breathing started to be more even after some time.

He kissed the top of her head, ensuring he still held her close. After some time, he noticed her crying had stopped. Their heartbeats were calm, almost in sync.

As he moved his head around to face her, he found that she fell asleep.


	4. IV Jack

_**IV / Jack**_

* * *

 _I am terribly sorry for the delay. I haven't had much time writing lately, but I really hope I can continue faster after this again. Enjoy :)_

* * *

As Mercy woke up, she felt a weird stinging and burning pain rushing through her right arm. She had lost all memory of the past few hours, so she was certainly surprised she was lying on something comfortable, on something soft. As she tried to move, another pulse of burning pain rushed through her hand which made her freeze instantly, just to find herself unable to clench her hand to a fist. She struggled to open her eyes, but then slowly she managed to take a glimpse of her hand that felt unnaturally heavy. It wasn't her hand she was staring at, but a professionally bandaged version of it. A thick and clean bandage covered her hand and echoed her own pulse back into her body. She tried to think of why she had her hand covered and when she bandaged it herself, but she couldn't remember any slight bit. As she moved her body from her right side to face up, she realized something else that was definitely odd. She stared down at her body that was covered up by a worn white t-shirt and nothing else. The too big and long t-shirt had a familiar smell that she picked up, and as she did her body abruptly turned over. She found herself staring at a bare chested man lying next to her, watching her. As she raised her eyes, her gaze stopped as she met two oceans staring back at her. Blue skies, deep oceans. A blue that made her heart sink and her breath freeze. She got lost in those eyes too many times that she could count. And she knew those better than she knew herself. As nobody moved for a while, the memory of what had happened the days before started to slowly come back to Mercy's mind. She remembered why the intoxicating blue did not feel the way as it used to. Something happened. As realization struck her, she turned away quickly.

"I thought I made it clear I don't want to see you." A hoarse and silent voice left her lips, from all the crying her throat felt like a desert.

She could only hear what sounded like a faint chuckle. "I know." Nothing else followed, just silence. It was like Jack didn't know what was the right thing to say or to do, so he just waited. But Mercy didn't say anything else, either. She was staring at the bandaged hand that had started to send a throbbing pain through her arm, but she tried to ignore it as best as she could. She didn't feel like moving at all.

"It's not broken." The voice behind her spoke up, and she felt a movement. He seemed to sit up slowly, but didn't approach her.

"Thank you." Mercy whispered, almost too silent for herself to hear, but she could feel her own muscles loosen as she got it from her lips. She knew she couldn't go on being mad for an eternity, and who knows what would have happened if nobody heard her the night before.

There was no answer, only a slight touch of a hand on her shoulder. It made her shiver, and suddenly sent a feeling through her body that she thought had gone forever. It grew stronger to an urge that seemed to drift her whole body into a direction, and even though she tried to fight it, her emotional condition was making her weak and forced her to give in. With one abrupt movement, she twisted her whole body around and threw her arms around the soldier who seemed startled by the sudden hug. She buried her face in his neck and the feeling of tears filled her eyes, but she didn't want to cry in his arms again. Instead, she just wanted to made believe that this wasn't a dream. That she wouldn't wake up in a few minutes in the same bed, but alone. She lifted her head up, and before her mind could even follow, her lips crushed onto his. She kissed him passionately like they had never kissed before. And it seemed to ease her mind, like a dying flower being watered after years, she felt her whole body being rushed with a warmth and a sensation of electricity that made her feel alive. After a few moments, Jack seemed to pull away to breathe. "Angel, I -" He started, but was interrupted by a finger on his lips.

"Maybe I did die. And this is heaven." Mercy breathed against his face, her hands intertwined behind the man's back. "Please, don't let go, I don't want to wake up." She pleaded, her face only a few inches from his.

She saw a faint smile on his face. "You are not dead. Also not dreaming." A hand cupped her face and like a purring cat she pressed her cheek against it. The warmth and the caress is something she thought had died with him years ago. An ignition of old and thought dead feelings. She shook her head. This had to be a dream. This was too perfect to be real.

After a few moments, his other hand held her face, too. "Angel, I'm asking you to listen to me for this." She had her eyes closed the whole time, but as he spoke, she looked up. His voice was hoarse, darker, than she had remembered it from the past. The metallic sound from 76 was gone, so she realized she heard Jack talk clearly. His voice had significantly changed.

"I know your, and everyone else's, reaction was totally justified. Hell, I hate myself and I know you hate me just as much. I am not asking you for forgiveness, I am just asking you for one thing." She started at him as he had his eyes locked on hers. His hands held her face in a steady but gentle grip in front of him. "I'm asking you to believe me that I will never leave you again. Even if you hate me, I won't let anything happen to you."

She looked away and sighed, a frown filled with pain grew across her face. Belief, trust. Something that had totally broken as she saw who had lied to her this whole time.

"When you said to me you trusted me with your life," he continued, carefully trying to turn her face back toward his, "I realized how I should have showed you that I trust you the same way. I should have come to you. I should have at least told you. I -" Before he could continue Mercy struggled free from his grip.

"Jack..." She sighed. Sitting up, she slowly turned her body away from him. "I just don't know what I am supposed to do. I am so mad, but I can't be."

There was no answer. Maybe he was giving her space, not trying to force anything onto her. To not ruin the small amount of joy they both had felt.

As there were no words coming after a few minutes, Mercy let her body fall backwards. She closed her eyes and felt her head hit his legs. She squeezed her eyes together, trying to fight tears that were building up. But she just felt so comfortable where she was, so safe. A feeling so familiar that was gone for years and instead was replaced by a void. It made it hard for her to even keep pretending that she was strong and okay. She wasn't.

"I just...," she started, her voice shaking. "I am just so tired of everything." A hand was on her neck, the other one was digging below her body. He was pulling her closer.

"I tried to make it right for everyone. I tried to be the best I can be. I tried to forget everyone and move on. But I couldn't." She was just letting go of everything, and as she slowly opened her eyes, the blurry vision caused by her tears revealed strands of white hair above her. Then she felt a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I am so sorry." Breath was brushing against her forehead. For a small moment, her heart started fluttering. Like a butterfly's wings her heart lifted up.

"Jack." She said, her hand reaching out to cup his face. She now looked at him from below, his eyes staring back as he readjusted his position. She was mad at him, but at the same time, she was full of love and relief. The latter was stronger, overwhelming, pushing everything else into the background.

"Can you tell me what happened, exactly?" She whispered. And felt his muscles tensing, knowing exactly that he knew what she was asking about. As he didn't answer, she abruptly sat up and faced him. "That is the least you owe me. An explanation."

He knew she was right.

"I think this might be the better time you were talking about."

He sighed. "Gabriel and I had a fight. Worse than ever. He was mad, hell, he was obsessed with revenge and plans to make me pay for something I did not even decide. He wasn't the friend anymore that I used to know. As best as I could I tried to keep things up. I tried so hard to keep Overwatch going and keep all of you out of the crisis. Little did I know we had a rebellion in our own walls. It was too ridiculous to actually believe it when I found out. Gabe was so mad that I had gotten the commander position that he turned against us. His own people, his friends." He took a second to look up to Mercy, all this time he had looked down at his hands. She was looking at him, calmly. She kept listening without any expression on her face. "That day, he approached me in my office. He was loud and filled with rage, I thought he was drunk. But never would I have thought he would raise his gun against me. Just trying to defend myself, the gunfire started between the both of us. And then it goes black. That must have been the explosion."

Mercy's eyes dropped down on the white sheets. "And we thought it was an attack. When they couldn't find anything, we just accepted that it was an accident." Her hands clenched to fists. "Damn it, Jack. We knew you were in there and we looked for you for days! Do you even know we buried you? Had a funeral?" Her gaze went back up to him, and her voice got louder. When she realized she shouted at him, she sighed. "I found Gabe and I turned him into... into that monster..."

A hand quickly reached for her face. "Listen to me. What happened to him is not your fault. You tried everything you could."

"So you knew that was him?" She distanced herself a little.

"Yes. But I would have never thought he would do this."

"You just told me he shot at you. And blew up the headquarters doing so. You think with that it was done for?" She was now crawling to the end of the bed. "No. He got me killed too."

She stepped out of the bed and struggled out of the t-shirt. She threw it back at Jack. "Our _friend_." She grabbed a few clothes from her drawer and struggled to put them on. "I need to get some air."

She struggled with her shoes, so she just stomped off barefooted through the door, leaving Jack Morrison back in her bed. Everything that she just had been told was just too much, especially cause it all added up and made sense. For once, the past years seemed to make sense. Something that she couldn't have known and understood without all the missing story parts. It was no accident, it was two old friends having a personal war. It made her angry. And she didn't know who she was angry at the most. As she tried pushing down the handle of the kitchen door, she forgot that her hand was bandaged and hurt. It sent a stinging pain through her arm, and she let out a hiss. "Shit!"

Just as that happened, the door opened from the other side. Someone must have heard.

"Everything okay with you?" was staring at the blonde with a confused expression. Mercy's hair wasn't done and her make-up totally ruined. Something she totally didn't pay attention to. Then the small brunette's eyes fell on Mercy's hand. "Did someone hurt you?"

Mercy seemed startled. "What? No!" She gently pushed the girl to the side and passed into the kitchen. "I just need a coffee." But instead of actually making coffee, Mercy stood at the counter and held her hand. Something in the rush must have hurt the wounds. Probably after the revival, her body had to get used to a regulated healing process again. All that nano tech can't be good in overdose. Her thoughts swirled all around her. Adding up to the voices in her head, she heard most of the people talk from the room next door.

In that place and time she couldn't really tell what she really wanted. Why couldn't everything just go back to how it was? Why did envy and revenge have to be such powerful and mind-bending stuff? Something that tore friends that grew as a family apart. Left a tear in hearts and between people. And it all made sense now. That Overwatch couldn't have continued. Back then it broke her heart to leave it all behind. And then, it broke her heart to know the truth. One thing that still was not clear to her as it should be, was that Jack was alive and well. Probably sitting in her room. Something, in all this chaos and madness, that was like a light glowing up in her heart. She knew she was really mad and also afraid of what would come, but still she could not stay mad at the now ashen haired man. It was Jack Morrison after all.

She held her bandaged hand all this time while thinking. Lost in thought, she totally didn't realize more people had entered the kitchen. To her surprise, nobody seemed worried about her, except for someone who suddenly gently grabbed her hand. "Want me to have a look at it?" Jesse leaned against the counter next to her, having a look all around her hand. Mercy shook her head.

"Knowing you I will end up without a hand. And I need it." She joked, but her voice wasn't light and funny as it was supposed to. She sounded tired, worn.

"What happened?"

Mercy shrugged. "I might have had some struggles yesterday evening. But it's fine, no worries. It will heal." She grabbed the coffee beans and started to prepare the morning drink.

"Oh, goodness, what did you do?" Another hand tried to reach for her bandage. But Mercy pulled back. Pharah's hand froze in place as she noticed the upset look on Mercy's face.

"Guys, you've had wounds a lot worse. I will live!" She said louder, then grabbed her coffee and went out the door. Her nerves were on the edge and weak. It was kind of everyone to care about her, but she couldn't rest.

She walked back up the stairs to her room, and when she opened the door, she expected someone to be there. But the bed was made and nobody was left in the room. She frowned. Was it all a dream, after all? Nobody downstairs seemed to have mentioned Jack at all. And, at least for her, it was a pretty big deal that he was alive and well. Why not for anyone else?

She finally found some time to get her hair done and her make-up fixed. Usually people would go after her, check up on her because she left so abruptly. But somehow she was thankful for the space they left her. They knew she needed her time, too.

She grabbed the coffee mug and walked out of the door again, now with shoes on, and as she walked down the hallway she took sips of the drink that she felt eased her nerves and the headache. She didn't know why, but her feet carried her along to the basement, but that was where she was right. She heard noises coming from a locker, and when she turned left, she saw a man without his uniform standing in front of a locker. It was Solider 76's. She approached him silently, and as she spoke, she saw him flinch.

"How did you survive?" That question came from her lips almost automatically. It was something that she wanted to know. She crossed her arms and leaned against the other lockers, lowering the cup in her hand and stared as the man slowly turned to face her. The lights threw an odd shadow across his face, revealing scars that looked scary but have barely been visible at daylight.

"I figured I don't need all this stuff anymore." Jack answered and kept going through all the things that he had to hide his identity. He explained to her what he was doing, and kept calmly tidying his locker.

"How did you survive?" Mercy repeated her question, not moving an inch. She kept staring. Then there was silence, and Jack froze in place.

"I don't know how. But I know I probably had an amount of nano-injections like nobody else ever had. I could drag myself out of the building and I could patch myself up. That was nothing new to me." He spoke into the other direction.

"And as you felt better you just thought 'Oh this is fine! I live and I can leave everyone thinking that I died!'"

"Angel..."

She rolled her eyes.

"I know you are upset. I know it's all difficult to understand. But give me a chance to make you understand my point of view."

"No, no. I get it. It makes sense. You know, all these holes in my memory about everything finally make sense. I want to understand you, Jack. If I wouldn't, I probably wouldn't have come here."

A faint smile was flashing across his face. "Thank you."

"You know, your hair was better blonde." Mercy joked and tried to lighten up the situation, then took a few steps toward Jack. She reached out and put a hand on the left side of his face.

"Unlike with you, this nano stuff kept me alive, but I feel like it added a few years to me. In appearance, not physically." He winked toward her as he said that.

 _Oh god._ Mercy thought and if she wouldn't know it better, she probably blushed. It was him, the same dorky man. Her mind probably kept telling her to keep checking if it was real.

"You know, you promised me something. Instead, promise me you will tell the others? Everything?"

His eyes left her face. He felt a cold shudder at the thought of having to tell everyone what really happened.

"You were their commander, after all. They deserve to know."

He buried his face in his hands and sighed.

"Please?"

As he took the hands from his face and looked back up, Mercy's face was closer than he expected. The closer she got, the more mesmerizing he was. She just couldn't hold back. She placed a kiss on his cheek, and she felt his stubble tickle against her face. A sudden movement left her gasp for air. She was lifted off the floor, two hands were holding her waist while a pair of lips met hers. Their hearts raced up, just like they always used to when they kissed. Nothing had changed in that way.

She moved her head away when she needed some air. She was put back on the ground, but she didn't let go. She hugged him close and had her lips just a few inches from his ear. "No more, disguises, no more lies. Just you and I, and all those up there who missed you just as much as I did." She whispered lightly, then placed another quick kiss on his cheek. When she looked at his face, it was blushing, and he looked peaceful. A small moment of their own, without any thoughts about what had happened and what will possibly happen. No voices in their heads, no remorse.

"I promise." He whispered back and reached out to stroke back a few strands of her hair back behind her ear.


End file.
